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After the United States established the Guantanamo Bay detention camp at its naval base in Cuba, officials occasionally allowed Guantanamo captives' phone calls to their family. In 2008 the Joint Task Force Guantanamo that manages the camps developed rules regarding phone calls: all detainees who met certain conditions were allowed to make one call home per year.
On September 29, 2009, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced that Guantanamo captives and their families would be allowed to communicate through a two-way video link. Since May 2008, a similar facility has been available to captives held in extrajudicial detention in Bagram Theater Internment Facility. This facility has been available to American GIs for many years. The first video call was made between a Pakistani captive and his family. His family traveled to the ICRC's Peshawar office, where one end of the video link had been set up.
Phone calls for detainees
While some phone calls to families had been allowed at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in 2008 the Joint Military Task Force developed policy and procedures to allow all detainees who satisfied certain conditions to make one phone call annually. Facilities were upgraded and in 2009, the Red Cross assisted with setting up video calls to its centers overseas.
Suzanne Lachelier, the officer who had been authorized to coordinate the call, said she was surprised to read newspaper reports that the call had taken place. She said she had not begun to make the arrangements. Storun later sent a retraction to reporters, without explanation of the error.